Page 11 (2/2)
"Your death will be slow and painful I&039;ll keep you alive long enough so that you see it all destroyed"
"We&039;ve already beaten you twice" She sensed the next whip of energy and deflected it But it took all of her strength, and she felt her link shudder as Re wolf
"And the third time&039;s the charm," she finished; and pulled herself back She poured back into her body, staggered, and ht have fallen if Nell and Ripley hadn&039;t supported her
"Are you hurt?" At the urgency in Nell&039;s voice Mia struggled to settle again "Mia?"
"No, I&039;," Ripley told her
"Just long enough"
"So you say" Still gripping Mia&039;s hand, Ripley jerked her head "We&039;ve got company"
As the visions cleared out of herjust outside the circle He wore black, the long coat swirling in the night air
"Finish it, and close the circle" His voice was brisk, businesslike "Before you collapse"
"I knohat to do" She reached for the tonic Nell was already pouring into a cup Because she was not yet steady, she took the cup with both hands And she drank until she no longer felt as if her body was a mist ready to be swept away by the wind
"Close the circle," Sa hiht and, with her sisters, closed the circle
"It continues to use Reh her skin felt as thin, as fragile, as the silk "More like a vessel than a source, but still some of both It fills him up with hatred of woy It&039;s potent, but not without vulnerability"
She reached down for her bag, and when she straightened, swayed
"That&039;s enough" In one motion, Sam swept her into his arms "She needs to sleep this off I knohat to do for her"
"He&039;s right" Ripley put a hand on Nell&039;s shoulder as Sa "He knohat she needs"
Mia&039;s head spun, infuriating her "I just need to get et it unless I&039;m on my feet"
"There was a ti help"
"I wouldn&039;t be twitchy if I needed help And I don&039;t need you to - " She bit off the words "I&039;ht"
"Boy, you must be shaky"
She let her head rest on his shoulder "I&039;m queazy"
"I know, baby We&039;ll fix it How&039;s the headache?"
"It&039;s not bad Really I&039;d have come back sturdier, but I had to coan to swi off I&039;ht Go ahead"
For once she did exactly as he suggested and didn&039;t argue When she went limp in his arms, he continued to carry her toward the house He would curse her later, he told hiht back For now, he took her inside and up to her bed
Knowing she had to sleep long and deep didn&039;t make it any easier for Saht of her bedroo to her at least helped keep his mind on the practical
He knehat protective oils and creams she&039;d used He could sathered the proper incense and candles to bolster what she&039;d already used She always had been an organized soul, he thought as he checked the shelves and cupboards in her tower room for the supplies he needed
Even here she had flowers - clay pots of violets - and books He scanned the books, selected one on healing spells and charms in case he needed to refresh his meh it had been soic, he steeped a pot of rue tea to aid her in spiritual cleansing She was deeply asleep when he returned He lighted the candles and incense, then sitting beside her, slid his mind into hers
"Mia, you need to drink, then you can rest"
He trailed his fingers over her cheeks, then brushed his ray was blurred She was limp as water as he lifted her head and put the cup to her lips
"Now you drink and heal in sleep Dreaht and into the light"
He brushed the hair froain "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No I&039;m alone here"
"You&039;re not" He lifted her hand to his lips as her eyes closed again "I&039;ll wait for you"
She let go of hi in the rose garden her parents had neglected Butterflies fluttered in the palers were petals
She and Ripley, so young and eager, lighting the Beltane fire in the clearing Sprawled on the floor in front of the fire while Lulu sat in a chair, knitting Walking on the beach with Saht And the beat, beat, beat of her heart as he drew her up, drew her in The world standing still, holding its breath in that ical instant before their first kiss
The feel of tears, the hot flood of theushed out of her shattered heart He&039;d walked away
so carelessly, left her broken and grieving as she stood by a pretty pool of early spring violets I&039; back
With that one statement, he&039;d broken her to pieces
Dreams floated in and out, and she with the Nell how to stir the air She felt the joy of clasping hands, at last, with both of her sisters in a circle of unity and power
She saw the soft colors and sweetness of Nell&039;s wedding, the bright proan yet another circle without her, as was meant to be
And she was alone
"Fate moves us, and then we choose"
She stood on the cliffs noith the one as called Fire Mia turned, looked into the face so like her own
"I regret no choice I&039;ve made," Mia said
"Nor did I Nor can I now"
"To die for love is a poor choice"
The one called Fire lifted her brows, and there was an innate arrogance in the gesture In the night wind, her hair streamed like flahter, perhaps you would not be here now Would not be what you are So I have no regrets Will you say the sa no harm I live my life, and live it well"
"As did I" She spread her arestured to where the fog boiled along the edge of the rocks "It craves most what it cannot have, and what it cannot have will, in the end, defeat it"
"What is there to do that I haven&039;t done?" Mia de" With that last word, she vanished
And Mia was alone
Lulu was alone Sleeping deeply under her hodgepodge quilt, floating on drea outside her house, rising up to slither around her s And through the cracks She stirred, she shivered, when that cold mist slid over her, snuck under the covers to crawl over her skin With a little sound of protest, she burrowed deeper under the quilt, but found no war wails of misery In a mother&039;s automatic response, she tossed the covers aside, rose in the dark, and started out of the bedroo"
In the drea corridor of the house on the cliff She felt the srass of her own yard as she left her house,Her eyes were open, but she saw the door to the baby&039;s room, and not the street where she walked, the quiet houses she passed
She didn&039;t see or sense the black wolf stalking behind her
She reached out, opened the door that wasn&039;t there as she trudged around the corner toward the beach The crib was empty, and the baby&039;s wails beca herself across High Street, which was a maze of corridors in heras she pounded on locked doors and raced toward the sound of the baby&039;s cries
She fell, scoring her hands on the sand of the beach and feeling her fingers dig into thick carpet She eeping, calling for her baby as she pushed herself to her feet, swayed, then raced on In the dreaht, then plunged into the sea The surf knocked her back, knocked her down, but in a blind fury to find and protect her child, she fought her way up again, pushed her way through the waves
Even as the water closed over her head, her eyes were open, and the baby&039;s screaht on her chest, and the sharp taste of voain
"She&039;s breathing It&039;s okay, Lulu, take it easy"
Her eyes burned, refused to focus Through the haze over them she made out Zack&039;s face Water dripped from his hair and onto her cheeks
"What the hell is this?" she demanded, and her voice came out in a croak that hurt her throat
"Oh, God, Lulu" Nell knelt on the sand beside her, grabbed her hand and pressed it to her own cheek
"Thank God"
"She&039;s still in shock" Ripley nudged her brother aside and spread a blanket over Lulu
"Shock, h that she considered passing out But she bore down and stared at the faces surrounding her Nell eeping openly, and Mac, soaking wet, crouched beside her Ripley sat on the sand now, and with her brother&039;s help, arranged the blanket over Lulu&039;s shoulders
"Where&039;s Mia?" she demanded
"She&039;s at home, she&039;s with Saan to dra and careful breaths "What the hell aht?"
"Good question" Zack considered a moment, then decided flat truth was best "Nell woke up and knew you were in trouble"
"So did I," Ripley added "I&039;d barely fallen asleep when I heard you shouting in ht train" She glanced at Nell then "I saw you walking out of your house, saw the fog closing in"
"And the black dog," Nellyou I was afraid ouldn&039;t get to you in ti to clear her head "I walked into the water? For Christ&039;s sake"
"It lured you there," Mac replied "Do you kno?"
"I had a dreahtet her home, and warm," Nell said, but Ripley shook her head
"Not yet You dary "So don&039;t pull the stubborn crap on me If Nell and I hadn&039;t linked in, we&039;d have found you dead in thetide"
Because Ripley&039;s voice broke, she clenched her teeth and spoke through them "My brother and my man pulled you out, and Zack pumped the life back into you Don&039;t you dare brush this off"
"Stop it now Stop that crying" Shaken, Lulu gave Ripley&039;s arm a little shake "I just had a bad spell, that&039;s all Nothing more than that to it"
"It lured you here," Mac repeated
"That&039;s just bull" But she started to shiver again, fro want to hurt ot no power"
"It hurts you," Mac said, "it hurts Mia You&039;re a part of her, Lu, so you&039;re part of this What would&039;ve happened to the island - to the children the sisters left behind - if they hadn&039;t had the nurse to tend them?
And we should&039;ve taken that into account before It was stupid not to Careless"
"We won&039;t be careless anymore" Nell wrapped her aret her home"
She let herself be carried, let herself be pae, and then
some, but she wasn&039;t done yet
"I don&039;t want Mia to know about this"
"What?" Ripley jammed her fists onto her hips "A near-death experience rattle your brain?"
"Think about what your man said back on the beach Hurt me, hurt her If she&039;s worried about lasses back in place, she turned to Mac and saw hith, all her wits to finish this Have I got that right?"
"She needs to be strong, but - "
"Then why-"Hoe know this didn&039;t happen tonight just to make her upset and worried about me so she&039;s vulnerable?
What&039;s done&039;s done, and telling her doesn&039;t change it"
"She could help protect you," Nell put in
"I can take care of ht Zack&039;s lifted eyebrows And huffed out a breath "Been doing it for longer than any of you&039;ve been alive Added to that, I&039;ve gotsheriff, a s out for ht of how pale, how fragile Mia had been when she&039;d coree to keep it to ourselves until telling Mia has a purpose Nell and I can put protection around the house"
"You go right ahead," Lulu invited
"I can set up a sensor," Mac put in "So if there&039;s any energy change, you&039;d be alerted"
"Sounds like a plan" Lulu fir and no one&039;s going to use me to hurt her That&039;s a promise"